Saint Pierre

saN pe-er, Jacques Henri Bernardin de (1737-1814), a French writer celebrated as the author of Paul and Virginia, one of the world's famous stories. Saint Pierre wrote other novels and several volumes of travels and miscellaneous essays. His reputation rests on Paul and Virginia. See Paul And Virginia

St. Pierre and Miquelon, me-ke-lon, two islands ten miles off the southern coast of Newfoundland. By the treaty of 1783 they were retained in the possession of France as a fishing station. These islands, with ten or more adjacent islets, are the only remnant held by France of what was formerly known as New France. The total area is ninety-two square miles. Total population, 6,250. The town of St. Pierre on the island of the name has a good harbor. It is the American terminus of the French Atlantic cable. It is the center of an extensive codfishery. A fishing crew requires the use of a small ship and several boats known as dories. In the fishing season the men sail out of harbor for the Banks with a supply of salt and of small fish for bait. They set long trawl lines with buoys. Each trawl bears 3,000 shorter lines baited for cod. In the morning each dory passes along its trawl, taking up the cod and rebaiting. The cod are taken to the ship, where they are split open, washed, and laid down in salt. When bait gives out, the crew sails for home, secures more bait and more salt, and returns to the grounds. The fish are turned over to short-skirted women, who soak out the salt and scrub the fish more thoroughly than their husbands have done. The fish are then spread out on elevated frames to dry in the sun. Several acres of flat, clean rocks are also used for the purpose. In case of fog or rain, the drying fish are piled up and covered with tarpaulin until the sun comes out again. St. Pierre furnishes three-fourths of the codfish used in France. In 1902 the town shipped 72,500,000 pounds.

St. Sophia, sant so-fe'a, a celebrated church and mosque of Constantinople. It was founded by Constantine in 325, when he transferred the seat of government from Rome to that city. Several successive edifices have been destroyed and rebuilt. The present church was built by the emperor Justinian. Effort was made to make it the finest and most expensive church in Christendom. It occupies a square of 241 feet. The interior has the form of a Greek cross. The ceiling is composed of a series of domes rising one above the other. The central dome is 175 feet above the pavement. The chair of the patriarch, the highest official of the eastern church, was gilded with silver. The sacramental vessels were of pure gold. The altar cloths were of the richest stuffs, embroidered with pearls and gold thread. The altar itself is said to have been cast of gold in which were imbedded diamonds, sapphires, and other precious gems. This can hardly be, however, for its weight was said to be 160 tons. The reputed value of the altar was $65,000,000. The interior of the church was decorated with marble sculptures and beautiful mosaics, the most elaborate that the artistic world could at that time fashion.

When the Turks took possession of Constantinople, they converted St. Sophia into a mosque. According to the teachings of Mohammed, no likenesses of the human figure are permitted in places of worship. The building was prepared for Turkish services by plastering the interior with a deep coating of white. During a recent overhauling of the mosque, the plaster was removed. At the request of the German emperor, artists were permitted to copy the mosaics and sketch the statues. They have been covered up again, however, as before, with white plaster. The interior will remain in this condition, no doubt, as long as the Turk rules Constantinople. St. Sophia has served as a model for many of the Russian cathedrals.